Cooper Kupp is soon to be a free agent.
After the Los Angeles Rams could not find a trade partner for their 2021 NFL Offensive Player of the Year, Kupp is soon to be on the open market for the first time in his eight-year career.
There will be a lot of teams interested in his services. He’s a proven veteran that can be a game wrecker at his best and a reliable second option at his worst. While he plays the majority of his snaps out of the slot, he can be versatile on the outside as well. It’s a weapon that could help any team improve its passing game on day one.
One of those teams should be the Dallas Cowboys.
Now, there are a couple of concerns. Kupp hasn’t played a full season since that award-winning 2021 season that saw him haul in 145 receptions for 1,947 yards and 16 touchdowns. Injuries in each of the last three years has seen a miss a combined 18 games. But when he’s been on the field, he’s still been productive, accumulating over 90 targets and still accounting for at least 700 receiving yards in each of those three seasons despite battling a pair of high ankle sprains.
From a Cowboys perspective, he could be a bit of a redundant weapon next to CeeDee Lamb. Both have similar playing styles lining up inside and outside and maximizing matchups rather than open space. But at the end of the day, is it really that much of a problem when both play to their max potential?
Aside from the on-field fit, Kupp would actually enter Dallas with a great bit of familiarity despite having zero former teammates on the active roster.
When Kupp was a draft prospect coming out of Eastern Washington in 2017, he had strong things to say about his first wide receivers coach in college. As someone who recruited and developed him from a nobody into a somebody for one of the top FCS programs, Kupp holds his former coach in high regard.
“It wasn’t about winning the route, it was about doing it the right way,” Kupp said. “He lives in the world of being process-driven over results-driven. It’s not about just getting open and making a play and scoring a touchdown. To be consistent, you have to have the process down and do that over and over and over again.”
“He’s going to make sure you have the tools to do that. I think that’s one of the biggest things that I’ve learned from him, just that the result isn’t always as important as the way you got there.”
Who was that coach? New Cowboys wide receivers coach Junior Adams.
A reunion between Kupp and Adams should be explored. And for an expected price tag of just over $11 million per year, it makes sense for the Cowboys financially to pull the trigger on that type of contract. It shouldn’t stop Dallas from selecting a receiver in April’s draft, but it would take the pressure off one of the many needs that will exist for the team when draft day comes around.
Stephen Jones said last week that “big names don’t always pan out” in free agency. Sometimes he’s right (think Kirk Cousins, Randy Gregory) and sometimes he’s wrong (think Saquon Barkley, Derrick Henry).
With Brandin Cooks expected to depart in free agency, bringing in a “big name” in Cooper Kupp would be the perfect replacement. And with nearly $50 million in cap space, it is more than feasible.
Why not do it?
This story was originally published March 12, 2025 at 12:42 PM.
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Nick Harris is the Dallas Cowboys beat reporter for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. He has experience working on the beat for DallasCowboys.com and previous work experience at Yahoo Sports/Rivals and 247Sports.